P.S. I totally forgot 3 weeks ago that the stake put on a crystal apple awards. What it is, is most of the Mormon high school students award the best teachers in each of their schools for being the most friendly, best teaching styles, and a couple of other nice things and give a crystal apple to each of them. It was a nice meeting. None of them were Mormon. We were told to just be there just in case.

Dear family and everyone else, As you might have guessed it from one of my pictures, I totally ran into one of my old friends from Utah, Brooke Barnett as many of you have known her; however, from what she told me at church, she is married now--about 7 months ago. Her name is now Brooke Gay. It was exciting but also nerve racking that I saw her. I was down the hall walking when I saw her face. I'm like, wait, is that Brooke. Then it was. I wanted to hug my old friend so bad. But mission rules state that I can't hug girls. Mom's are the only exception to the rule of course. Love you lots mom. She's living down in Provo now. She was in Manteca to see her husband's family. Then they drove all the way back to Utah-- an 11 hour road trip. Oh the poor dears. It was cheap, what do you expect. From that moment until yesterday, I thought I had been seeing a bunch of my friends faces on people--my best friend Chaston, and the other was a swimmer girl that I can't remember her name. It was in a way taunting me saying: ha ha, you still got 11 months left to this day. Oh well, life presses on. I did my best to shake it off like I always do. In this week's proselyting, we taught the Tagal's. They are Philipino (if I didn't say that already.) Sweet couple with a super friendly skinny dog. I think they call them strudels or something. Anyways, we set up an appointment for one evening, and when we got there, we didn't know that they sent us a text saying that they had to go somewhere. So we get there and they told us that they changed their minds and they were home and continued on teaching about the restoration since they watched the 20 minute video we gave them. They love YouTube and movies in general. They thought the video was really special and that Joseph Smith was a really respectable person. They continue to be open in hearing what we have to share with the world. On Tuesday, Elder Shepherd had a dentist appointment. The first plan was to have him go with a member while I go with our district leader to service at the 2nd harvest food bank. However, the plan slightly changed when we gave them a 30 minute leeway and they didn't show, so we left and told them it was too late to pick me up and that they should still go to service. They got themselves busy by helping the Zone Leaders. So our district leader Elder Ahau learned his lesson to set his priorities straight and to follow on every commitment. We extend commitments to investigators. We as missionaries should do the same. We all learn from our mistakes, and the atonement covers even the smallest things. When we get to Modesto and when Elder Shepherd was done in 30 minutes, miraculously, he was charged after some missionaries told him that the service would be free, so he and the dentist talked it over since he didn't have dental insurance like he thought and the member dentist just forgave the charge. We will see again tomorrow if the dentist will do the dental work for free or not. He does have like 2-4 pre-cavities that need to be filled, so he is brushing his teeth 3 times a day now, which is good. We talked to the Eckles's son Luke as well on Saturday. He is staunch Baptist and has asburger's, which is high functioning autism. This defect has the person unable to connect their feelings with their logic. He is super smart and very accountable for his actions. He just needs to find the right crowd is all. It's almost impossible for him to feel the spirit because it's too gentle. If he ever gets converted, it will have to be logically. Not very many Mormon's can really grasp the belief in the Trinity, because the explanation just doesn't make sense. We did our best but he's not budging with the godhead. He did say that he will study the Book of Mormon starting with 3 Nephi soon with us. Also on Saturday, we talked to a somewhat homeless woman named Jane. She lived in Riverbank but was kicked out because of some things that she mentioned. She really wants to work but couldn't find anything yet. She is also on disability which isn't really much to pay for rent around here in California. She rented out a motel for a month before she goes on the street again. She might have found a deal with one of her friends to move in together and pay for an apartment together. They're just looking everywhere except for Stockton for how bad it is there. She flagged us down and said that she studied with the missionaries before. She just likes things slow. She does understand that we do want to baptize her. She just wants to find her answer first. On Sunday, Maria Johnson wasn't at our ward, but she did go to Union ward with her boyfriend because they were busy later in the afternoon since it was Easter. Marsha Baker "The trouble Maker" is what she called herself, woke up late and missed yet another baby blessing. She loves babies so much, but there are plenty of other opportunities for her to see one in the near future. This is a younger ward with many young families with expecting wive's. Because Marsha missed church again, she will not be getting baptized like we hoped on the 9th, but we are still expecting Maria Johnson to. We just need to start working on the program with her, and her interview. I want to conclude my letter to all my friends and family in sharing a brief message about the importance of EASTER. "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29; Alma 7:14) For unto us, a Child is born. The Prince of Peace. "He was wounded for our transgressions. (Mosiah 14:5) He was bruised for our sins". (Mosiah 14:5) This Easter season, remember to go to Gethsemane. We needed a Savior so mercy could be extended. Justice and Mercy though apposite, work in harmony in the plan of God. Peace was found, and peace was restored. Remember the first Easter. Great joy is proclaimed, and all can "Find new life." Love the Savior, and love his commandments. He overcame all, so trust and obey.With Sincere Love to all,Elder Tyler White

Dear Family and Everyone Else (Who say they are my friends), This week is a long letter. Sorry. On Sunday, I had an extremely surprising event. I ran into one of my very good friends, BROOKE BARNETT! Although not so Barnett anymore. She reported to me that she got married 6 months ago to a returned missionary at age 20 for the both of them. She said that she and her husband, (sorry, I can't remember his name), took an 11 hour road trip to go see some of his family here in Manteca and then drive all the way back after church. It was a quick visit with her, then she left and I went to sacrament meeting. Now I know of a surety that I am missing out on a lot of news from my old friends. Oh well. That's the missionary life. It makes me wonder what other events have been kept from me? Perhaps I won't find out everything until I get home in less than 11 months from now. I would have never guessed that she would have gotten married so soon in life. I guess there is no time to have fun as a member of the restored church. I'm over here saying, "Well, I guess I'm going to be one of the last to get married when I get home." Me being one of the last in my graduating class to leave on their mission, the last to get back, oh and I mustn't forget that I will be the last of 2 elders of Fresno Mission, and one other from Sacramento before Modesto becomes all of President Palmer's mission. After I leave, everyone will be born in the Modesto Mission and know nothing else. That's quite all daunting to me. Maybe President will pair me and Elder Ashton our last 2 transfers together and then white wash our last area together. I doubt that though. So, in other funny news, Elder Shepherd just got a dragon fruit from a member this morning. I tried some. The inside is a white flesh with little seeds like a Kiwi. It was okay, but it didn't have any flavor. Then, I wanted a real kiwi. The Morgan's went all the way to Modesto to find this fruit for him since he has sought it out for almost his entire mission. Now we both know what it looks like, and what it tastes like. It's just a fruity flesh without any flavor really. Elder Shepherd's parents also sent him a new bike; although, it doesn't have any shocks, so he was afraid to ruin the wheels because of his weight, so he test rode it once and used his old bike. He says he is thinking of trading it or selling it back to the store and do something else with the money. He will figure it out soon enough. They also sent him a flash drive that is 128 GB big I believe. Very close to a terrabite. It's just a huge number. His parents are converts just before he was born, and they love their son to death. He's been out for 20 months now. He now has 4 months of his mission left. He's slowly getting anxious but also really loves his mission and Magic the card game. It was his 20th birthday on Friday and Elder Grover's on Wednesday, so we celebrated on District meeting by having brownies, and I brought my raspberry spice cobbler, mixed with sprite. They all loved my cooking. I was very pleased. His parents also sent him a carrot cake in the mail on the day of his birthday. The shield that he is holding in one of the pictures is also a Nerf gun. The shield does open and close by a button on the star. It's really nifty. That is why he was getting all this stuff. It was a fun day. We finally got rid or all the empty boxes from moving. We now have more room to walk around, and it looks cleaner too. We also took a member with us to take a bed and couch to the dump due to missionaries putting it outside for the rain to slowly rot it away. It was heavy because it was a fold out bed. One step closer to closing that old apartment once and for all. We talked to the owner who is a member in Union ward and he said that he was offering the place at $850 a month. It's a lot in Utah money, but cheap in California money. Now I know that I never want to live out here when I'm off my mission. This is just ridiculous with housing and utilities costs. We also thought that we could move an investigator there so she can feel more comfortable to stop smoking, and move away from the problems she faces with her roommates. We told the ward council and they all of a sudden snatch it up so they can move a family in their ward that was going homeless because their old place was too expensive. The 850 thing was their upper limit. They did find a rent a week place and they have 3 more days before they need to move out. It was slightly annoying to hear that, but they needed it a lot more than our investigator did. We were just happy to help in any way we could. To include in this week's letter, we have been teaching Maria Johnson. She is dating a member in the Union ward and has been interested in the church. She is on date for April 9th and is still looking for her answer from the Lord if this church is true. We have taught her all the basic principles of the gospel now. This week, we might occasionally come over to read the Book of Mormon with her and share each others insights from the reading. The other investigator worth mentioning was Bob Tigal and his wife. They are both Catholic and somewhere met the missionaries. They were interested to hear from us, and we have been starting to come over. We watched the new Easter video's for this year, and they loved it. Next time, we will be watching the Restoration and talk about that topic. They are very visual learners, so they may like the video. They are both from the Philippines. Lovely couple. Bob especially is really funny. She's more serious. They make a perfect couple. She said that if she knew that the church is true, even though she will be an outcast from the family, she would do anything to get baptized, so I hope the spirit really convinces her as we teach them. They also said they would be happy to feed us dinner one night in the near future. We did have an open slot at the end of this month, so we will try their idea. Last time I ever ate with an investigator was back in Clovis with Cole and Susan along with her husband.These are the major things that happened this week.Love you all,Elder White.P.S. We did have a dinner with the Relief Society birthday dinner. It was slightly weird but also cool to talk with the sister's at our table about what it means to perform service in secret and some other things. We did have other priesthood there too so we were good in being around the sister's and the sister's being good being at the church building.

Dear family and everyone else, Gosh I have much to say this week. So many things have happened all at once. First thing, Elder Shepherd is from North Carolina, he is 6 feet 4 inches, was a high school swimmer-- interestingly enough. He also worked at a scout camp, and was the manager in 4 different area's including store supplies, communications, medical, and life guard duty. He is super on the ball on things. He used to have blue eyes, but they have faded into a grayish color. He is super obsessed with Captain America, Nerf guns, and Magic. There are a few magic people in this mission. It can be addicting. I just won't go there. I'm not interested in those kind of card games. Just Uno I think. He also has 3 kinds of Monopoly games, and a travel size of Settler's of Catan; however, he said that there are a few missing pieces. Oh well. We will figure it out someday when we have more time in the next few preparation day's. He told me of a really funny but scary story of some kids lighting a fire cracker into the outhouse, which hadn't been cleaned out for 20 years. It was full of explosive methane gas and leveled the entire area in a mushroom cloud. Nobody was hurt, but he capture 2 boys that he knew did it and brought them to custody until their parents arrived and surveyed the situation. Their parents had to pay for damages of course. He already had so much stuff on his plate. He was payed really well too. He will be well off when he gets back home. The first thing that we did when I got to the area was service at the 2nd harvest food bank. We have been sorting through oranges, and peeling off the top layers of cabbage to send out. That was pretty fun. We then got a less active with his black truck to help move our furniture into the new apartment. The ward mission leader also helped us move the small stuff like the proselyting material over as well. We got the most major parts done. The next day or so we gutted out that 20 year old apartment that has housed missionaries by sweeping the floors, mopping them, and deep cleaned the bathroom and counters. A lot of work went into cleaning, and we are almost done. We need to next haul out old furniture that was placed in the back to the dump, and take whatever is left there. I barely escaped living in a run down, filthy place that would have just driven me insane trying to clean. Missionaries can be so nasty over a 20 year period. I'm glad President Palmer took a look last transfer and closed it down. I can count myself spoiled. Now we live in our area--just to the south part instead of being centralized, but out of the area barely. On Saturday, Elder Shepherd was really sick with a fever of 102, so we got permission to stay at home for him to rest and take some dayquil and other medicine. While he rested, I cleaned all the pots, pans, tableware, dried, put away, and organized the entire kitchen area. I then organized the trash and the boxes from the new supplies of furniture, and lamps. I also cleaned my bike chain again, along with the gears. Lastly, I hung up the pictures that we had, and dusted off the new shelves in the living room that we received. I felt very accomplished that day. Yesterday, we had 2 investigators come to church. One was Juan. He has received that special feeling to know that our church is true because we live what we are taught instead of brushing off religion or checking it at the door, like what sister Bonnie L. Oscarson has stated. Don't check it out at the door! Live your religion. He will be baptized soon for sure. We just need to meet up with him sometime. He's been busy but wants to learn the truth. Another is Maria Johnson. Catholic, open to learn from us, dating a Mormon, in her 70's, and has pretty much gone through all the missionary discussions real quick in like a week. We went through all the commandments in one night too. I haven't done that in a long time. We are also working with a lady named Marsha Baker. She has smoked for many years. She wants to quit but gets so mad and anxious because of her husband. She wants to serve or get out of the house. She just can't go far in walking or stand for too long, so she may be a struggle. We will try doing the stop smoking program with her. I found it again. This time, I'm going to make copies for me to personally have one day. One other thing, my last dinner before I left Lodi was with the young Parker family. They are really fun. I have supplied many pictures this week--the Parker's, and the new missionary apartment. Manteca has so many prepared people. The ward here is also huge. The Elders quorum is also huge. It was a big change for me going from a small ward in Lodi to a large, and on fire with the gospel Manteca North-land ward. I have felt the feeling that I needed to be here for 3 weeks, and I am finally here. I will try my best to find my purpose as to why I have been called here. This stake is going to be the next to split. There will be the Manteca Stake, and then the new Tracy Stake next year or 2. Sincerely,Elder White

Dear family and everyone else, Yesterday was truly a spiritual sacrament meeting. I've never felt the spirit so strong like this one. It was quiet and peaceful. Usually, kids are crying, screaming, or something, but all was still in the Lord's house. I was the 2nd or 3rd one to get up to bear my testimony. It was another good one. Throughout the morning, I prepared to learn by reading in the child's Book of Mormon we got a couple weeks ago and read about the Savior ministering to the Nephites and blessing the children. When I walked into the stake building, I noticed a picture of Christ, being comforted by the angel with wings in the Garden for some flyer for a concert on Temple Hill. I couldn't help but ponder what the Savior went through in atoning for our sins, including mine, and also all of our pains and sicknesses. To top it off, the hymns that were chosen for the meeting were so carefully chosen for that day. I simply could not contain myself and cried with joy, and sadness for what was done to Jesus Christ at those times. The phrase came to my mind when Jesus asked his father in Heaven: "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. But not my will...but thine be done." Nothing that I have done this week would deserve such feelings such as I have felt during Sunday. Overall, it was all pure joy in our Messiah, Jesus Christ. Now that I have kept you waiting long enough, I am pleased to announce my next calling in the California Modesto Mission. I will be serving in the Manteca stake under the Northland Ward with: ELDER SHEPHERD! You read it, I'm going to be companions with my first friend that I made on the mission. We will be called the White-Shepherd's. Follow us, and we will lead you to pureness and back to Heavenly Father is what I would say. I prayed hard for this thing to be. I also asked President if this could be possible during interviews. I feel yet again that the Lord hears my prayers, and that he knows me personally-- what is going on in my life. Now, I will be ready to go by tomorrow. I just need to pack my bags yet again by tonight, although I felt concerned about some of our investigator's such as Charles. He seemed really cool and just like me--scared to try new things, like's to be a respectable person (Mexican), and very introverted. If we met in high school, I almost want to say we would have been friends. Same age too. Elder Wardle told me last night some words of council and upliftment, which I really appreciated. "The teaching pool that we have been building up, has been prepared by us for the next set of Elders to baptize. I know they will baptize the heck out of them. I'm also sure that Elder Pelsue and his new missionary will suite well for our investigators." This has settled my worries for them, so overall, I'm excited to go down to Manteca. I also felt that burning feeling like 3 weeks ago, that Manteca was the next place I was going to serve. My revelation has come true. So, an update on the area. On Thursday, we had our final Zone meeting here in Lodi before I leave. After that, we went to return a mission car we borrowed back to Modesto. Then we rode back up with Brother Lewis. (Not you brother Lewis in my home ward. Totally not related either. Sorry. I guess mustaches run in the name.) The next day, we rode down with Elder Laubman and Simms to the mission office again for Elder Wardle's, and Laubman's farewell interviews. They didn't complete their "My Plans" in time, so they were shorter; however, the ride back up was awful. Traffic all around the edge of Modesto onto the freeway, and northbound 99 was slow too. What should have taken only one hour turned to 3 hours trying to get back home. We taught Cody and Geraldine for the last time too. In total, we talked about the plan of salvation, Moroni 8, and the word of wisdom. As soon as we said coffee and tea, she questioned it, and we asked her to read the Book of Mormon and pray about that first. She still wasn't budging and she said she wasn't interested anymore because she can't give up her coffee, so we gave a friendly good bye and talked about each of our futures in life, took pictures, and left. They did say they were going to look at a friend's church that's small, and starting new. They also said that if it doesn't appeal to them, they will come to our ward and try it out. They were really friendly throughout all this, and they said they might investigate again one day, so it wasn't completely a door slamming shut, but an opportunity for a later date when the spirit works on them more. They also wanted to add me and Elder Wardle on Facebook, and I helped them find me. When I get home, I will add them as facebook friends, and continue to be in friendly contact with them. We also read another chapter in the Book of Mormon with Felix and mentioned about half of the 10 commandments and he started remembering them all. So overall, not a whole lot of teaching. Just talking to people and saying bye while trying to share the gospel. This is my week.Elder White

P.S. Sam Kelly finally got his mission call after waiting for 2 1/2 weeks after being assigned. He is going to the Argentina mission. We had some good splits with him and Christian Sawyer. Also look for the new video: Hallelujah whenever it starts launching. Previewing it, it's amazing. It involves a hint of Family History with the Savior's atonement for Easter. Have a great week everyone.